Selphie Drabbles
by Jaelyn Crosswinds
Summary: A series of drabbles technically, flash fiction about my favourite character, Selphie Tilmitt.
1. Chapter 1

"You know I'm not a saint." Squall replied quietly as Selphie smiled at him in the restaurant.

"I know you're not a saint." She returned quickly, shoving a fork full of pasta into her mouth. The candle in the centre of the table brought a subtle glow to the table as the two ate dinner together.

The two really hadn't had any time to themselves recently and felt that the escape was necessary so that they could spend some time together. As usual however, their conversations always seemed to end up being about SeeD stuff. Selphie hated it, but she knew that Squall needed the venting time. And so she sat there somewhat quietly, listening to the lament about how Squall had been attempting to explain something to a group of students who just wouldn't seem to stop talking while he was talking.

"The whole group?" Selphie asked quickly.

"Yeah."

The short, clipped reply was typical of the Lion as Selphie attempted once again to the change the subject. Since they had started dating, she had pretty much turned into Squall confidant which was perfectly fine by her. If he told anybody about the thoughts on his mind, the perky brunette was glad that it was her and not someone else.

"Wait wait wait," Selphie interjected during a particular loud part of their conversation in which she could detect Squall was getting angry. "You didn't just leave them alone in the training centre did you?"

Squall frowned as Selphie went back to eating her dinner. "No." he replied quietly, following the same suit as his dinner date.

"Then what did you do?" Selphie shot at him after a silence that seemed like an eternity to her. It was moments like this that made other people go crazy but with Selphie, she just wanted to leap across the table and hug the man that she cared for.

"I handed them over to a more experienced instructor." Squall dropped his fork onto the plate before him, hands weaving into his dark chocolate coloured hair. Stormy eyes went to stare at the plate of pasta in front of him. Feeling a familiar touch that he craved desperately, he looked up to see Selphie smiling up at him.

"You explain things just fine in a one-on-one situation and missions. The kids always try to disrespect their Instructors; sometimes they win, sometimes they don't. You have to earn their respect too or they're not gonna respect you in the long run. See, they think they know it all and that they're invincible and they will always question those who take up weapons and fights y'know what I mean?"

Squall nodded briefly. "But I'm not the saint that everyone makes me out to be. I hate it."

"You don't have to be a saint," Selphie replied before the brunet could wallow in his angst any further. "You just have to straighten those kids out and make certain that they won't get killed. That's what an instructor does;" she paused to look Squall in the eyes. "We save lives."


	2. Chapter 2

"Though we are men with mortal sins, angels never cry."

Angels are never supposed to cry. Or at least that's what they say when it starts to rain. To me, it means that someone has hurt another person's feelings and that they're hurting pretty bad. Although, where I am right now and at this time of year, it's usually snowing and it hardly ever rains. But when it does rain, man does it ever pour!

But it makes me wonder if a dark angel can cry too? Can their tears be red as vermillion coloured roses or is it something else that they're sad about? Are they crying over the loss of a loved one or is it something else?

We're only human right? Are we not supposed to cry? Are we meant to be emotionless? I've only ever seen one angel cry and it didn't look too pretty. I've read of angel's crying and that when an angel cries it's not a good thing to have happen.

But hey, we're only human right? We're not demons who revel in murder, rape and death. And even though we can turn into monsters sometimes, not everyone is capable of evil. Some of us are capable of good, of saving the world. Some of us can sin and we all do it everyday but hey, eventually we will be forgiven.

Matron told us that there's this happy place in the sky where all the good people go. So does that mean that if we have killed people – even though we didn't want to fight - in a war that was pointless that we're going to Hell? I mean, there is no Heaven and Hell right?

I'm attending a funeral for a friend lost due to this war; in a missile blast that I couldn't stop from hitting Trabia. Most of my friends survived the blast but not all of them did. I cried so much after I found out that they had died but I kept up a strong face. Because I had to be strong for my other friends who were grieving too but really I was dying inside too. Maybe they saw through it, I'm pretty sure most of them did. I know for a fact that Squall and the others saw right through my act.

I've cried long enough for those that died in the war and I think it's time for me to move on. I did my repenting and now, it's time that I started living again. Whether or not some people want to come with me, it's my decision and I'll stick by it.


	3. Chapter 3

Including the Kramer's who owned the dilapidated building, seven others were gathering down upon the beach. It had been quite a few years for all of them since they had saved the world – save one, who felt guilty for being involved -- and most if not all of them were chattering excitedly as they did so. They were all practically fawning over Squall who had finally given up upon being the SeeD commander that they all knew he hated being.

Irvine had finally landed himself a gal who could keep up with him and one whom he had known since he was a small boy. He ruffled the hair of a taller Selphie victoriously as he looked out over the ocean scene before him.

Sneaking out from underneath his arms, Selphie ran forward into the ocean, giggling as she went. The white sand kicked up underneath her feet and sprayed in the general direction of her surrogate siblings. The last time they had all gathered here was shortly after Edea had been freed from Ultimecia's control.

The waters of Centra were always warm as Selphie waved at the others to come in. "The water's awesome today!" she yelled at her friends. She couldn't necessarily call them siblings anymore even if they had been raised together. Irvine and Zell were the first ones to come into the water and attempted to start a water fight but Selphie ran out and hopped onto Seifer's back. He looked at her from an angle, curious as to her intentions.

"What?" he asked.

"You're coming in!" Selphie replied cheerfully as she slid down his back and ran back toward the water. The light was hitting at the perfect angle to blind those who remained as it began to look like the three who were splashing and laughing in the water were playing in an ocean of light.

"C'mon guys!" Zell called, motioning to the rest on the beach. "You don't know what you're missing!"

Smirking, Seifer pointed behind Zell who was the victim of a double attack from Selphie and Irvine. "Think again."

Spluttering, Zell ducked into the water at the last minute. Grabbing a foot of each of his attackers, he gave a sharp tug and brought the two of them thrashing into the water.

Selphie was the first to come up from the underhanded trick from the blond fighter as she splashed him again and tugged Irvine's arm that had come up from under the water seconds after she had. The two of them sprinted toward the sandy shore and sat in the sand as they did so. Towels dropped onto their heads from above and both looked up through wet brown hair to see the smiling face of their Matron.

"Are you three having fun?" she asked laughter apparent in her voice.

"Yeah!" Selphie exclaimed as she hopped to her feet. She toweled off her wet black shorts and yellow tank top and looked up at the vacant beach.

"We're heading up to the house for lunch and Squall says he has a surprise for us. Would you three like to come along?"

"You got it." Irvine replied with a thumb up as he tossed his towel in Zell's direction. "We're goin' up top. See ya there."

"Wait a sec man; wait up!" Zell shouted after them as they followed their raven haired caretaker up the rocky path to the house.

"Then hurry up Chicken Wuss." Seifer called from the top of the pathway.

"What'd you just call me!" Zell shot back hotly, ready for a fight. He raced up the hill, quickly catching up to the others as he glared at Seifer for the rest of the afternoon. The only thing that changed his mind was when a plate of Hot Dogs was placed in front of him. Ignoring the antagonist, Zell made quick work of the Hot Dogs as usual. Jokes of the blond being a vacuum cleaner were laughed off as he flashed them all the bird.

"So Squall, what's the surprise all about?" Quistis piped up after munching on a hamburger.

Standing up from his spot at the end of the table, the normally quiet brunet spoke clearly for the whole table to hear him. He looked at them all, not wanting to speak of his plans when Selphie knew of them. After all, the perky brunette had somehow managed to weasel them out of the Commander. "I wanna rebuild the Orphanage."

All of them stared at Squall in surprise except for Selphie who nodded, pointing a carrot stick at the ceiling. "Yeah, it could be a family project of sorts."

"A way fer all o' us to get reacquainted." Irvine piped in. "We c'n make it bigger for more orphans to live here!"

The rest nodded in agreement as the Kramer's stood there in shock. Even Ellone was nodding. The two who had raised the group before relented and let their "children" have their way as the discussion carried well into the night about how to rebuild their former home.


	4. Chapter 4

"Why not be happy!" Selphie screamed at Squall as he once again walked away from her.

"…I don't need to be happy." He replied tersely, voice clipped.

It was always like this at the end of a long day. Selphie would go to bring Squall his dinner because the boy never ate a damn thing. The only she could recall where he had actually been happy was when Rinoa was still here. However, Selphie knew better than the rest of them.

The smiles, the whisperings of "I love you" that Rinoa had squealed, even giggled about had all been a lie.

So there went Squall, walking away from his childhood friend. Selphie couldn't make him be happy but at least she could try to cheer him up. _But he's just gonna lie to me…_ she thought sadly.

She thought of chasing after him as he walked down the hall in his brusque manner but what would that achieve for her? Absolutely nothing is what it would get.

The heavy boot steps had stopped for all but a second when stormy eyes glanced over a leather clad shoulder and stared at her analytically. Even from this distanced, Selphie could tell that the SeeD Commander was trying to analyze her intentions. They all – especially her – wanted Squall to be happy.

Even Rinoa – quite possibly as naïve as Selphie – had eventually accepted the fact that Squall would never be happy with the raven haired beauty. You can't change a person over night after all; especially when they don't want to change.

"Selphie, come here."

Reluctant to follow the request, Selphie stared at Squall suspiciously. She was curious as to what could possibly be going through his mind. Finally, after she received a pleading look akin to the one that she herself had used on him as a child, Selphie went to him. No man, woman or child could resist that petulant look.

When she finally reached as her pace was slow and hesitant, Squall smiled briefly at her. He ruffled her brown hair which caused her to giggle and stare up at him in mock irritation.

"I'll take you home." He offered, even though it was more like an order.

She nodded as she affirmed to herself more than anyone else that Squall would never lie to those that he had been raised with. Distant, always and quite possibly forever; a liar?

Never.


	5. Chapter 5

Selphie was a dreamer and everyone knew it. Star gazing was a particular hobby of hers as she waited rather impatiently for the sun to set. Tonight of all nights was a special night for her.

It was July sixteenth, the day that she was born. And while she should have been happy that she was turning twenty years old at long last, she could not help but feel a little bit sad at the thought. It was like she was losing a part of her childhood as she officially became an adult.

The sun had finally set as she took her recently acquired car – a gift Edea and Cid – and drove into the port town of Balamb. She loved the city more than her beloved Trabia to which she had always remained loyal. The lights of the small town were lighting up the backdrop as the perky brunette rounded the hill that led into the town.

Smiling as she did so, Selphie could see her apartment building from the outskirts of the town. The hills rolled by quickly as a breeze picked up, blowing brown hair in several directions. The town became larger and larger as the car that carried Selphie home made quick work of the hill it was under.

She waved with a broad smile on her face to the family at the gas station soon after she came back into the town. Remembering that there would be children playing in the streets at this time, she parked the car in a recently constructed parking lot for all of the cars. The town still wasn't as large as Dollet or the Galbadian Capital to which she was grateful.

Leaving the car, Selphie was greeted with the scent of the salt air from the ocean as the breeze from earlier blew through her hair again. Her pace quickened, making the breeze feel more powerful as the town was a blur of lights and darkened colours. An interest in astrology had recently been instilled in her. The communications tower in Dollet had been reconstructed and now there were a variety of television programs for them all to watch.

A sharp turn to the left just before the port brought Selphie to the apartment complex that many of Balamb Garden's SeeD called home. She flashed her ID at the touch pad and pulled the glass door open. The trek up the four flights of stairs was uneventful however.

Her apartment was the first on the left of the fourth floor as she unlocked the door quickly with her keys. Kicking her boots clear across the room, Selphie made her way to the balcony. The stars had just become to blanket the sky as eyes of green lingered up to stare at the beauty unfolding before her.

She knew that the stars that she loved to stare at, dream about, would be her escape from the world of SeeD. To do something other than fight was something that she had always dreamed of. An orphan of a long forgotten war, a savior of a world that had forsaken heroes long ago and a lost cause in the eyes of many who knew what SeeD was really about. Selphie sighed.

_"If you're always looking at the stars, you're gonna fall over."_


	6. Chapter 6

**Subject:** Final Fantasy VIII  
**Character/Pairing:** Selphie Tilmitt  
**Themes:** #28  
**Rating:** G  
**Warnings:** None:D

Little did anyone know that little Miss Selphie was in a rock band aptly named Booyaka. The day that her band mates had let her into the group, she was constantly saying Booyaka. The band's leader found the word incredibly amusing and decided along with the other members that would be the name of the band. They seemed to like her energetic personality and she was always suggesting stuff for their music even though she herself was not the best with her guitar yet.

Slowly, they were showing her ways to play the guitar faster and better. Mind you, she practiced almost every single night to be on par with the rest of the band – after all, they had named the band after her favourite saying. They had seen potential in her and wanted to give the perky brunette a chance to prove her mettle.

They weren't disappointed in the end.

It was the night of their very first concert and the whole band was hyped. Selphie looked at them, trying to hide her nervousness. The way that the other four members acted toward each other, it was clear that they had been playing together for years. The long haired blond lead singer, decked out in as much leather as was comfortable, walked over to her. He smiled comfortingly at her as a hand rough with calluses went to her bare shoulder.

"It's okay to be scared at the first gig and everyone after that."

Standing up, Selphie brushed off the black skirt with yellow Capri's underneath them. She had bought a leather bustier after some light pressure from the rest of the band. She was surprised that she had managed to get into it on her own as she tugged on the laces at the bottom. She nodded once as she walked up to the rest of the band. Overall, she was the bands mascot as she hopped up on the bassist's back and grinned. "Ready to kick some ass?" she asked the entire group.

"You bet!" the lead singer came back over and gave the rest of the group a thumbs up. "Let's go then."

The group motioned for Selphie to lead the way as she always the crowd pumped with her personality.

"Give 'em a taste of what you got!" the drummer shouted at her as she made her way onto the stage to the roaring of the crowd.

"But don't give 'em too much, save it for the show!" the band leader chimed in.

Nodding in confidence, Selphie plugged her red Fender Strat into the amp and let a wicked guitar solo rip through the hall silencing the entire crowd as she played her first solo. From behind the stage, the band nodded their approval; the kid had talent in their eyes. It also gave them time to make their way onto the stage and get ready for the show. The crowd cheered enthusiastically as each member their way on stage.

Selphie stopped her solo as the main melody of their first song started playing. Grabbing the microphone, Selphie grinned at the crowd before saying, "Give it up for Booyaka!"

And their first concert as Booyaka began.


	7. Chapter 7

There she sat in the pouring rain, holding onto a silver rifle for all it was worth. The middle of a forest, the midst of a downpour with her comrades fallen, wounded from a battle. The sneer of Seifer Almasy scared the daylights out of her. Selphie had not observed that victorious sneer in almost a year. Emerald green eyes were staring at the tall blonde as he finally noticed her.

His boots made odd suctioning noises as they collided with the muddy earth below them. A flash of thunder accentuated his gunblade Hyperion as it dripped with the blood of a Blue Dragon. What could have possibly brought them to the Island Closest to Hell was beyond her but everyone she loved was wounded from a now heaping carcass of dead Dragon.

The thunder rumbled in the background as puddles turned into small lakes on the island. Like a deer caught in headlights Selphie screamed once, accidentally pulling the trigger of Exeter. It fired some pulse ammo into the sky which scattered into the back of a T-Rexuar. The taller blond spun around once and lunged at the beast killing it in one shot as he did so.

They had called for backup before the storm had started and prayed to Hyne that it would arrive soon. It was only Seifer and Selphie left standing to defend their fallen comrades from being devoured in their unconscious states. The crew of the Ragnarok had said that their estimated time of arrival would be about twenty minutes weather pending.

At that time however, Squall had still been standing. The rain had changed their terrain visibly as Selphie had fallen to the ground, cradling Exeter with all her might. The gun was heavy as she held it up with both hands. Seifer was surveying the area as they all hoped that the rain would hold off and the airship would come to their aid.

Just twenty more minutes as the normally perky brunette dropped the gun in her lap, leaping to her feet in a yellow dress soiled with mud and blood. She whipped the nunchaku off her back and ran to Seifer. "You n' me. We can do this!" she said hotly, casting flare at a weak looking Hexadragon.

Hearing Seifer grunt his reply, Selphie checked her watch. Five minutes left and she could hear the whirring of turbines in the distance. She leapt in front of Rinoa, taking a near fatal blow to the abdomen in the process for her friend. Falling to one knee, Selphie pressed a trembling hand to her stomach as blood spurted out. She glared defiantly at the Malboro who had slashed her with a long tentacle and shouted out for her limit break, "The End!" and watched with hazed over eyes as all the monsters in their vicinity disappeared in the flurry of the vortex that sucked them into another world.

Twenty more minutes of pain had nearly led to the deaths of the Heroes of the World.


	8. Chapter 8

Selphie just had to get herself lost in a forest with that perverted sharp shooting cowboy Irvine now didn't she? She just had to listen constantly to his blathering about the girl he had been cheating on with some random Galbadian bimbo he'd picked up off the street corner the night previous. She followed behind the cocky cowboy silently, just letting him ramble on and on like it was only thing that mattered. Nobody in Garden would listen to his blathering except for Selphie so they always sent her off with him on these futile missions that always ended up in failure anyway so there was really no point in intervening now was there?

She had never really told anybody how much this truly did irritate her; having to hear about the latest victim of the Kinneas Libido. Everyone knew how much of a whore the cowboy was but no one knew the true depths of his adventures like Selphie did. Every mind blowing orgasm, every threesome, and every single gay man he'd ever been with.

And here he was, getting them lost in a forest, blasting the brains out of random monsters while leaving his companion to pick up all the gil and various odds and ends the rotting carcasses revealed. Essentially, Irvine bragged about his sexcapades while Selphie got coated in blood picking through rotting animal flesh for screws and pulling off snake skins and yanking at steel pipes from areas normal girls shouldn't be yanking but hey, she was sent to clean up his messes so clean them up she did.

Except this time, when the monster she was picking up screws and other pieces of junk from was playing possum and went after her. Attacking the perky brunette with its powerful maw, attempting to gnaw her arm off at the elbow joint, she screamed once before gunshots rang through the air. Her pale skin now laced with tracks of crimson began to drip down her arm as she stared at the cowboy in shock. He shot the monster once more for good luck before he hefted the girl to her feet and looked her over. He cast a quick Curaga over her arm before wrapping his leather duster about her shoulders.

"Give me that flare you've got Sef." He ordered lightly in his drawl.

Complying, Selphie surrendered the rescue flare and its gun which the sharp shooter fired into the air. The bright orange light a stark contrast to the slowly darkening sky, Irvine looked into the emerald green eyes of his traveling companion before asking, "You never wanted to hear my stories did you?"

_Shoot straight from the hip…_ Selphie thought as she nodded slowly, the atmosphere being engulfed by the noise of airship engines landing nearby. Tears prickled at her eyes as she ran through the thinning forest toward the Ragnarok and into the waiting arms of Squall who looked at Irvine with the usual "what the fuck happened?" question that was always asked when they were picked up.

Irvine mere shrugged indifferently and shuffled toward the airship. "I was saying some shit she didn't wanna hear. I apologize Sefie." He said to her as she buried her face in Squall's bomber jacket as he went to the passenger deck.


	9. Chapter 9

Destroyed; gone and never coming back. Selphie sat in her shower letting the hot water bead down her back and massage the tenseness out of her shoulders in the process. The battles lately were getting longer and harder to win. The perky brunette slept deeply every night from exhaustion. Soggy brown hair fell in front of her green eyes as tears fell from the usually happy pearls to mingle in with the water at the drain.

That's how she felt really, drained. It wasn't her squad's fault at all. In fact it was entirely hers. She hadn't been thinking of the consequences as any good leader would've done but rushed in headlong. They took on a monster that was too strong even for four Seed's of high rank.

It was time to do something about this problem. It had been happening entirely too long.

So Selphie gathered her squad members in the entrance of Balamb Garden's Training Centre. Decked out in their training clothes and weapons in hand, Selphie said, "We're going to train and we're gonna get stronger. This is the last time that we get trounced by some silly monster. We're gonna go in there, two at a time and train as much as we can."

There, in the light of a waxed over moon was born anew the determination that Selphie thought she had lost. There was no way that she'd ever lose to a monster as pitiful as a Funguar. They had been lax in their training and that was about to change.

Walking into the jungle environment of the training centre, Selphie and her partner stood there waiting for the SeeD's and other students to move on ahead.

"Look over there." The partner, a blue haired female bearing daggers designed for throwing pointed toward a hidden pathway that led into the underbrush of the area.

"Let's go." Selphie nodded and off into the brush with her partner. It didn't take the two long to find some action as they were plagued by a steady swarm of Grats.

"Looks like fun." Selphie's partner pointed to the largest T-Rexuar she'd ever seen. "We should give it a shot."

Selphie eyed the T-Rexuar suspiciously as it was acting rather strange. Instead of attempting to eat the Grats around it, the large dinosaur type monster appeared to be gathering them together and delegating orders.

"That's odd…it looks like it's giving out orders." Selphie observed out loud. "We should head back to the main training area and report this to the Training Centre staff."

"And miss out on an opportunity to take out the rumoured 'sentient' T-Rexuar, are you outta yer mind Selph?"

"No way, we're not going in there without Guardian Forces." Selphie shot back sternly as she attempted to grab her blue-haired partner by the collar and drag her out of the underbrush they were trouncing about in.

"Looks like we might not get the chance to get them." The blue-haired girl replied quickly readying her daggers to fend off their enemies. The Grats were coming at them full force with the so-called sentient T-Rexuar bearing its yellow-toothed grin at them.

"Here it comes."

The partners looked up as the T-Rexuar roared loudly enough to crack the panes of the windows above them. The Grats that had been stampeding past them stopped dead in the tracks and surrounded the two SeeD's.

"Selph, whatta we do now?"

"What we came here to do." Selphie spat angrily, readying her nunchaku in order to summon. "We fight."

The blue-haired SeeD watched as Selphie began to glow with a strange light. "What do I do?"

"Hold them off!" Selphie bellowed, hoping that the other two in their squad would hear her and come help them. For now all the perky brunette could do was prepare to summon their most powerful Guardian Force from her days in the Sorceress War. The wind rustled and what few birds lived in the training centre flew away. The sky grew steadily darker and darker as great black clouds formed outside.

"Get behind me." She ordered quickly as she summoned forth Eden to take care of the so-called sentient T-Rexuar. The two vanished to be protected from the brutal attack as wave after wave of energy attacked all the monsters in the surrounding area.

The summon was over in a few seconds as Selphie and her partner reappeared before a mass of Grat carcasses and severely wounded T-Rexuar. Green eyes narrowed in concentration as Selphie knew that one attack from Eden wouldn't be enough to take out this great beast. Running forward at full tilt, Selphie leapt into the air and cast three power magic spells one after the other and came back down to earth and watched as the T-Rexuar twitched and spasm through its last moments in life before walking out of the Underbrush slowly.

When the two partners emerged from the underbrush covered in Grat skin and blood, the other two SeeD's in Selphie's squad were waiting for them. "Is everthing all right Selphie?" a black-haired lanky young man asked quickly.

"You bet!" Selphie grinned, giving her teammate a thumb up in approval.


	10. Chapter 10

A dream, that's all it really was right? It was just some silly little dream thought up by her overactive imagination. She must've eaten the wrong food item at dinner that night. Or maybe it was the fact that she wasn't sleeping very well from stress and her course load. That just had to be it; there was nothing wrong with her, Selphie thought.

But that just didn't explain why she was having this nightmare constantly for three weeks straight. She started eating better, attempting to get more sleep and still the nightmare came. The exact same dream, over and over, night after night. It made her afraid to sleep because she knew that the nightmare would come.

This was the second night that Selphie had gone without sleep since she'd left the safety of Balamb Garden to come to Squenix University. Sure, she'd made friends, even a few enemies but that wasn't exactly on her mind at the moment as she sat on her bed huddled in a corner in her boyfriend's hoodie.

The same hellish dream every time she tried to sleep, the same sequence of events, the same ending each and every time. The thing that woke her every single night was that there were people in the dream that she recognized off the University's network and it shook her right down to her very core. What did it mean? What had happened? Why would she be dreaming about the exact people for three weeks straight? Surely by now the dream would have altered in some sense but obviously it had not as Selphie Tilmitt, a mere child, skipping rope in hand went running down a beach on an unknown island being chased by monsters she would later find out to be called the Heartless?

A boy with a wooden sword, cocky, somewhat arrogant in his ways but loved what he did and did so with every ounce of pride he could muster. Another boy who had orange hair who treated her like a little sister and gave the perky brunette a sound defense whenever she was picked on by the older children of the island. Both of them were gone, devoured by these small black monsters with glowing yellow eyes.

And now, they were chasing her. These Heartless monsters were coming after her, coming after everybody. The island itself was being consumed; ocean, palm trees, paopu fruit, everything was going, going, gone. She scrambled up the last standing palm tree, the tallest on the island in a vain attempt at escaping the small monsters. Even though it was to no avail in the end.

Emerald green eyes flew open in an instant as Selphie's eyes overflowed with tears from experiencing the nightmare once again. She was curled into the same position wondering when she had fallen asleep. She could feel her cornea's burning as they demanded more but the tiny young woman was too scared to go back to sleep. The dream scared her that much that she just couldn't work up the courage to go back into something that wouldn't involve the dream.

And so, she went to the college network to record her thoughts on the dream. She recalled it as best she could and was now waiting for one of the youths from the dream – Sora – to speak with her about the same topic.

Until that moment came, Selphie sat on her bed and cried silently, not wanting to disturb her suitemates.


	11. Chapter 11

Selphie just had to get herself lost in a forest with that perverted sharp shooting cowboy Irvine now didn't she? She just had to listen constantly to his blathering about the girl he had been cheating on with some random Galbadian bimbo he'd picked up off the street corner the night previous. She followed behind the cocky cowboy silently, just letting him ramble on and on like it was only thing that mattered. Nobody in Garden would listen to his blathering except for Selphie so they always sent her off with him on these futile missions that always ended up in failure anyway so there was really no point in intervening now was there?

She had never really told anybody how much this truly did irritate her; having to hear about the latest victim of the Kinneas Libido. Everyone knew how much of a whore the cowboy was but no one knew the true depths of his adventures like Selphie did. Every mind blowing orgasm, every threesome, and every single gay man he'd ever been with.

And here he was, getting them lost in a forest, blasting the brains out of random monsters while leaving his companion to pick up all the gil and various odds and ends the rotting carcasses revealed. Essentially, Irvine bragged about his sexcapades while Selphie got coated in blood picking through rotting animal flesh for screws and pulling off snake skins and yanking at steel pipes from areas normal girls shouldn't be yanking but hey, she was sent to clean up his messes so clean them up she did.

Except this time, when the monster she was picking up screws and other pieces of junk from was playing possum and went after her. Attacking the perky brunette with its powerful maw, attempting to gnaw her arm off at the elbow joint, she screamed once before gunshots rang through the air. Her pale skin now laced with tracks of crimson began to drip down her arm as she stared at the cowboy in shock. He shot the monster once more for good luck before he hefted the girl to her feet and looked her over. He cast a quick Curaga over her arm before wrapping his leather duster about her shoulders.

"Give me that flare you've got Sef." He ordered lightly in his drawl.

Complying, Selphie surrendered the rescue flare and its gun which the sharp shooter fired into the air. The bright orange light a stark contrast to the slowly darkening sky, Irvine looked into the emerald green eyes of his traveling companion before asking, "You never wanted to hear my stories did you?"

_Shoot straight from the hip…_ Selphie thought as she nodded slowly, the atmosphere being engulfed by the noise of airship engines landing nearby. Tears prickled at her eyes as she ran through the thinning forest toward the Ragnarok and into the waiting arms of Squall who looked at Irvine with the usual "what the fuck happened?" question that was always asked when they were picked up.

Irvine mere shrugged indifferently and shuffled toward the airship. "I was saying some shit she didn't wanna hear. I apologize Sefie." He said to her as she buried her face in Squall's bomber jacket as he went to the passenger deck.


	12. Chapter 12

**Acceptance**

Hi Rinoa!

How are you doing these days? I hope you're doing well becauase I really miss having you around. I'm sorry that things didn't work about between you and Squall because I was cheering for you. I know, it's hard to believe and everything but I really was. I want you both to be happy for the rest of your lives. I want us all to be happy for the rest of our lives. We just have to accept this peace for what it was. After all that we went through together and the countless letters that we've all sent you...

We're worried about you two, now more than ever. Squall throws himself into his work and you, yours. I want to see you again, to see how you are; to know what you're doing. We still don't know all the details of how you two broke up but I want to say that I'm sorry it happened. If you ever wanna talk about it, you know I'm here for you.

Overall, I hope whatever you're doing right now, makes you happier than you've ever been. I also know that you'll find someone new to bounce your ideas off of soon. Hang in there, we're all cheering for you!

Love,

Selphie

PS: Please write back. I'd like that a lot.


	13. Chapter 13

**Give Peace a Chance** Dear Mom and Dad, I wish you were both alive to read this letter but for now, this will have to do. I've been keeping super mega busy lately and well... we finally did it! We defeated the Sorceress Ultimecia and obtained peace. It's weird though... even though the world and its countries are at peace, our lives are as chaotic as ever. We're going around to everywhere, doing all these appearances and interviews with magazines and newspapers and it's really exciting! You both would be so proud of your little Selphie. She helped save the world and brought about peace. Something you both were striving for in your lifetimes right? Galbadia promised that there would be no more fighting and so far they've kept to their word but with every day that passes since the end of the second Sorceress' War, there have been more SeeD being dispatched everyday to deal with small disputes. I thought that more people would benefit from the first real sense of peace this world has ever had and... they have to do things like this. Fighting isn't going to solve anything so we've taken a new approach to disputes between towns. We get some people from each down and we sit them down in a room and let discuss the issues between them. It's worked pretty well so far and I'm glad it has. I... don't want to fight anymore. I want to live in a world without war and suffering, disease and pestilence. More than anything, I just want people to be happy. Like I hope you are wherever you are in the clouds. I'll write you again; promise! Selphie 


	14. Chapter 14

**Encourage You**

Hey Squall,

I heard from Zell that you've been busy trying to mediate a dispute between two of the smaller settlements that popped up near Esthar after the war. I hope it's going well for you. Where are you staying in the city? Are you staying with Sir Laguna in the Presidential Palace or are you staying in one of the smaller inns in the shopping arcade? Maybe the problems between the two towns are the last things on your mind. Laguna probably wants to see you right? I hope you'll give him a chance. I know that things are... strange between the two of you right now but please try to work it out. He really wants to get to know you better.

Now I bet you're thinking that it's all just a waste of your time and that you've got better things to do but if he's really your Dad then I really think you should hear him out. You never know, maybe you'll learn something about him or yourself. Think about it this way, if you go and hear him, nobody would think differently of you. If anything, I bet people who don't know you would think you'd be establishing political ties between Garden and Esthar. That wouldn't be so bad right? Think of all the great things we could do if we all worked together. It'd be like the Sorceress War; working together toward a common cause.

But I'll keep this letter short because you're probably super mega busy right? So make sure that you take care of yourself and if you go see Sir Laguna, tell him his number one fan says Hello!

Yours Truly,

Selphie

PS: Irvine told me to write down Purple Monkey Dishwasher but he wouldn't tell me why. He said that you'd know what he meant.


	15. Chapter 15

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Excitable Chickens

Matron had to get her young charges out of the house for the day. A series of grand fits of boredom had brought about doodles on the wall in black permanent marker and bloodied noses as Cid was left with a couple of the older, more dependable children to paint the house. Thus, the younger, more boisterous children had been packed into a minivan for a field trip of sorts. At first, the Sorceress had considered a children's museum but quickly thought against it as cries of wanting to play war (a certain perky brunette's favourite childhood game) assaulted the air.

Instead, with Squall clutching one of her hands and Zell the other, Selphie and Irvine raced out of the van toward the entrance of the Centra Petting Zoo. Seifer and Quistis trailed behind them, not being trusted to stay at the Orphanage with Cid to paint the walls. The staff grinned at the energetic little girl in a yellow tee-shirt and blue coverall shorts as she clambered up into the area where the Chickens were kept. A sound that could be described as nothing more than sheer, unbridled glee escaped from her mouth.

"GET THE CHICKENS!" A younger Selphie exclaimed, little arms raised into the air.

"Uh... Sefie darlin'?" Irvine drawled. "You think that's a good idea?"

She grinned impishly at her partner in crime as she barrelled over to a group of hens who scattered in every direction. The excited brunette cheered as they ran from her, mischief clear on her face as she gave chase to the closest one. One of the nearby staff members cautioned about trying to chase the chickens but Selphie wasn't really one to listen at that age as she just kept careening toward the poor creatures.

Irvine meanwhile, just stood there with a stupefied look on his face. Sure, it was great to see his Sefie having some fun on this otherwise sunny, but boring day but if she hurt herself, then none of them would hear the end of it.

"Selphie," Matron called pleasantly. "Could you come here please?"

The girl skidded to a halt just before she could crash land into an unguarded basket of eggs. She spun around with a delighted look on that sunny face of hers as she bounded over to Matron and gave the mother figure a little peace sign. Selphie was rewarded for her "good" behavior with a gentle pat on the head as the older woman motioned Squall toward Irvine and held her hand out to Selphie.

"Let's not excite the chickens too much today, okay?" Matron asked her pocketful of sunshine kindly.

Selphie thought about it briefly before nodding. "Okay!"

Matron smiled warmly at the child. "Good girl. Now... how about we go see what the staff members can tell us about those Chickens."

"Right!"


	16. Chapter 16

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Confess

Dear Irvine,

I don't think I've ever really told you this before and maybe it was obvious before but now... I think I can say it to you. Or well I'd like to but Squall sent you off on a mission the other day and I hope it's going well for you. It seems like you want to get away from Sharpshooting missions and while I don't see you as the peacekeeper type, I know that you can do it. But this is me rambling a little bit because I'm getting scared now but I need to tell you this; I really do. Or maybe it can wait until you get back. I don't quite know what to do but if I don't say it now I might not have the balls to say it again.

So are you sitting down? You might wanna sit down and don't let anybody else read this. Especially Zell. I know that he's a bit of a snoop so tell him that if he ever tries to read this letter I will kick his ass in ways that Seifer never can. :D Anyway, here goes!

I like you. I like you a lot. And hopefully when you get back from your mission, we can sit down and talk about this in person. That being said, you can pick your jaw up off the floor Cowboy.

From,  
Selphie


End file.
